Apparatus fob lighting and extinguishing gas-lights



N; s. MANROSS. AUIOMATIU GAS LIGHTER 0R BXT INGUISHBR.

No. 31,322. Patented Feb. 5, 1861.

NEWTON S.

MANROSS, OF FORESTVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

APPARATUS FOR LIGHTING AND EXTINGUISI-IING GAS-LIGHTS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 31,822, dated February 5, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NEWTON S. MANRoss, of Forestville, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Automatic Apparatus for Lighting and Extinguishing the Light of Gas, Applicable in Connection with Street- Lamps or other Gas-Burners; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification,

in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of my apparatus exhibiting its application to a street lamp. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the same at right angles to Fig. 1, exhibiting it partly in section. Figs. 3, l, and 5 are views of some of the details of the apparatus.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

The object of my apparatus is to effect the turning on, and ignition of illuminating gas, and the shutting olf of the same at such hours as may be desired without any personal attention, further than its adj ustmentfrom time to time to suit the changes in the times of the setting and rising of the sun and moon or other circumstances. The ap paratus is composed principally of the hydrogen and )latinum kindling apparatus known as Do ereiners lamp and a clock so applied in combination with each other and with suitable valves for letting on and shuttingoff both the hydrogen and the illuminating gas, as to effect the desired result.

To enable others to make and use my in vention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

A B, is the hydrogen generating apparatus, and C, is the framing of the clock movement, arranged in fixed posit-ions on opposite sides of the lamp post D, as close as possible to the lantern. The hydrogen generating apparatus represented is of a well known kind consisting simply of a vessel A, for containing diluted acid and a bell B, in which is suspended a piece or pieces of zinc.

E, is a pipe for conveying the hydrogen to the nozzle F, from which it issues in a fine stream whenever permitted to do so by the opening of the mercurial valve a, which is of the kind for which Letters Patent of the United States were granted to me, dated October a, 1859, the box G, of said valve being placed between the pipe E, and the nozzle F; and the plunger H, of said valve being operated by the clock movement through the means to be presently described. I use this kind of valve for the reason that it works more easily than the stop cocks and stop valves in common use. The platinum sponge c, which is situated directly over the nozzle F, and near one side of the illuminating gas burner J, is contained in a small wire basket (Z, which is attached to a standard I, erected upon the "alve box G. To protect the sponge from dust and moisture, I use an automatically opening and closing box K, which is attached to a lever L, which is arranged to vibrate upon a fixed fulcrum 6, above the valve box G. The mouth of this box is constructed to constitute a seat for a conical valve N, which is attached to the fixed standard I, for the purpose of closing the said box air tight, or nearly so, the said box being opened to expose the sponge only just previously to and during the ignition of the gas-light by moving away the said box bodily from the valve as shown in Fig. 1, and being closed as soon as the ignition has been effected, as will be hereinafter fully explained. Between the nozzle F, and the sponge 0, there is arranged a stationary open cylindrical tube 0, of solid or perforated metal or wire gauze, to prevent the hydrogen being blown away from the sponge when the valve a, and box K, are opened for the purpose of lighting the gas.

P, is the pipe by which the illuminating gas is supplied to the burner J, through a mercurial valve, like a, the box Q, of said valve and the box G, being arranged side by side within the lantern and bolted together by a screw bolt 7". The plunger H, of the valve 0, is attached to the arm h, of an upright lifting rod h; and the plunger R, of the other valve is attached to the arm 1, of a similar upright lifting rod 9. The two lifting rods pass through a guide post C, erected on the top of the framing C, and connect with two levers H, and R, which are arranged to work on the same fixed fulcrum shaft g, which is secured in the lower part of the framing of the clock movement.

The clock which I employ in my apparatus differs from ordinary clocks which have a striking movement in the construction of the notched wheel S, upon the arbor U, of the striking spring U, in its being provided in addition to or instead of the ordinary dial, of a revolving dial W, with pointers '0, and trippers w, to, which may be adjusted in proper relation to it to cause the said wheel to be liberated at the desired. hours to effect the turning on and igniting and the shutting off of the gas. Thenotched wheel S, has also firmly attached to it a notched cylindrical ring, or cam T, for operating on the valve-lifting-levers H, R. The difference in the construction of the wheel S, consists only in the number and arrangement of its notches of which there is a series 8, s, s, at equal distances apart and another series t, t, 25, corresponding in num her with s, s, s, and also at equal distances apart each of If, t, 25, being arranged very near to one of s, s, s. The number of these notches is not material but the drawing represents (see Fig. 2) three in each series. The number of notches u, a, u, in the cam T, corresponds with the number of notches in each series 8, s, s, and t, t, t.

The valve-lifting-levers H, and R, are so formed with toes k and 1 and so arranged relatively to the cam T, that when either of the notches u, a, a, in the said cam is opposite to both of the said toes, the said toes are permitted to fall into the said notch and the plungers H R, of both valves are held down in position to close the valves, by their own weight aided by the weight of the lifting rods h, and a", and of the principal portions of the levers H, and R, but that as the end of the said notches a, a, u, are brought by the revolution of the cam with the wheel S, into action on the said toes they depress or push aside the said toes and raise the principal portions of their levers and so raise the lifting rods 72 and r, and the plungers H, and R, and open the valves, which remain open while the cylindrical surface of the cam is in contact with both their toes. Those ends of the notches u, u, u, of the cam which act upon the toes to raise the plungers are made of step form as shown at 6, 7 in Figs. 1 and 3, in order that the hydrogen valve plunger H, may be raised previously to the commencement of the raising of the illuminating gas valve plunger R, and that therefore all the force necessary to open the two valves may not be required to be brought into action at once, and that a spring U, of moderate strength may be made to do the work. The toes h and T are so arranged relatively to each other and to their respective levers that in the revolution of the cam, which takes place in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2, the toe k belonging to the hydrogen valve may drop into any notch u, of the cam while the toe T of the illuminating gas valve remains on the cylindrical surface thereof as shown in Fig. 4, and hence that the hydrogen may be shut off while the illuminating gas remains turned on.

The levers, H, R, are so arranged rela tively to the stop pawl V, by which the wheel S, is locked and to the relative positions of the notches s, s s, and u, a, a, that when the point of the said pawl V, is in one of the notches s, s, s, of the said wheel the toe h belonging to the hydrogen gas is in a notch u, but the toe 1' is resting against the cylindrical surface of the cam as shown in Fig. i, and hence the hydrogen valve is closed and the illuminating gas valve open; and the arrangement of the notches t, t, a, which follow their adjacent notches s, s, s, in their revolution is such relatively to u, u, u, that when the stop pawl is in one of them both the toes 72, 1 are in a notch u, as shown in Fig. 5, and both valves are closed.

The rotating dial W, which is concentric with the main arbor and fixed time dial, is attached to a toothed wheel 1V, which is so geared with the time movement of the clock, as to revolve once in twenty-four hours in the opposite direction to that in which the hands of the clock revolve. This dial is graduated to represent the hours and quarters of hours or any lesser divisions of time of the day and night. The said dial has the two pointers '2), o, fitted to its hub :12, insuch a manner as to be capable of being set separately upon it by hand, one to point to the hour or time at which the gas is to be lighted and the other to the hour or time at which it is to be extinguished but in such a manner as to move along with the said dial as the latter derives motion from the clock movement. The said pointers carry the two trippers w, w, one each, one for the purpose of throwing the pawl V, out of a notch t, of the wheel S, and so liberating the said wheel at the proper time for lighting the gas and the other for throwing the said lever out of a notch S, of the said wheel and so liberating the said wheel at the proper time for extinguishing the gas. The trippers 'w, to, do not act directly upon the pawl V, but upon an arm y, attached to a rock shaft 3 and the said arm y, operates upon an arm V, attached to the rock shaft 2, which carries the pawl V. The lever L, which carries the box K, for the protection of the sponge 0, has an arm L, which is situated directly over the lifting arm h, of the plunger H, so that by the rise of the lifting rod it, to raise that plunger to open the hydrogen valve, the said arm h, is caused to act upon the said arm L, to open the box.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: The two pointers o, 4), having been properly adjusted and the clock wound up and set running, the wheel S, remains stationary during the day time with the pawl V, in one of its notches t, t, t, and the valves are both closed owing to the toes 12, and 1 both entering one of the notches u, u, u, as

shown in Fig. 5, but when the time arrives for lighting the gas the proper tripper w or 70/ comes into action and throws the pawl V, out of the notch t, and liberates the wheel S, which then commences to 1'0- tate in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 2, and carry with it the cam T, which brings the steps 7 and 6, of the notch 10, successively into operation on their respective toes if, 1, and so opens first the hydrogen valve and then the illuminating gas valve. At the same time that the hydrogen valve is opened the sponge boX K, is opened by the means hereinbefore described to expose the platinum sponge c, to the escaping jet of hydrogen from the nozzle F, and the ignition of the hydrogen is shortly eifected and this ignition is quickly followed by the ignition of the illuminating gas issuing from the burner J. The movement of the wheel S, continues after the pawl V, is removed from the notch 1, till the next notch 8, below it arrives at the pawl when the pawl drops to the latter notch and so locks the wheel again as shown in Fig. l. Before this has taken place a notch u, of the cam has arrived opposite the toe /z.-, and has so permitted the hydrogen valve to close and the boXL, to shut upon the platinum but the said notch it, does not arrive so far as the toe a, and so the illuminating gas valve remains open, till at the proper time for the light being extinguished, the other tripper w, or 10, comes into operation and throws the pawl V, out of the notch s, and permits the wheel S, to start again. A-very small movement of this wheel is now sufficient to bring the notch u, opposite the pawl a, and permit the illuminating gas valve to close and shut otl" the gas. It will be understood that a wheel S, and cam T, with three notches in each series, will require to complete its revolution once in three days and by using a larger number of notch-es one revolution may be made to serve for a larger period and hence it will. be seen that the spring U will not often require winding up.

To provide for the stoppage of the operation of the apparatus on moon-light nights, or at any other time, or season, I employ a stop Y, attached to a short shaft or stud 8, which turns in a bearing in the front check of the framing C, and projects through the time dial, and which is furnished outside of the said dial with a finger 10, by which it may be turned to bring the stop into a positi 011 to prevent the revolution of an arm 11, that is rigidly attached to one of the shafts of the strike movement and so prevent the rotation of the wheel S. This stop may be operated automatically by a rotary cam geared with the time movement of the clock in such a manner as to complete its revolution once in every month or other suitable period of time.

By properly combining a hammer and hell with the wheel S, the apparatus may be made to constitute an alarm clock besides performing the duty of turning on and lighting the gas.

In some cases it may be desirable to have an apparatus which only eifects the turning on and lighting of the gas, the shutting off to be effected by hand or by other means, and it is obvious that in such cases some change in the construction of the wheel S, will be necessary.

hen the apparatus is applied to street lamps, the clock should be inclosed in a weather proof case and the acid vessel A, should be furnished with a cover.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is z- 1. The employment for the purpose of lighting gas at any desired hour of a hydrogen and platinum kindling apparatus (Dobereiners lamp) and a clock movement, combined and operating substantially as herein described.

2. So constructing and applying the cam T, or its equivalent and so applying the mechanism through which it acts on the hydrogen valve and illuminating gas valve, that the hydrogen valve, after the ignition of the illuminating gas has been effected, will be closed, and the illuminating gas valve only, left open, substantially as herein described.

3. Providing for the protection of the platinum by means of an automatically opening and closing box K, substantially as herein described.

l. The rotating dial TV, with its two adjustable pointers and two attached trippers, applied and operating substantially as herein described.

NEWVTON S. MANROSS.

Witnesses:

GARDNER HALL, DAN A. MILLER. 

